Kill Your Monday Blues with Hils Hints: All Things Distress Part 10

All Things Distress

Part 10 

Distress Inks, and why they are so special

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As promised, today I’m giving you another couple of ways to colour with your distress markers, using different blending techniques.  

And, as a bonus, I’m also giving you the run-down on the white Picket Fence marker, because this is quite different from the rest of the range.

First – the colouring in.

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what do you need?

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Distress Markers

Stamps 

Ranger Archival Ink (black)

Watercolour paper

A craft sheet

{Items can be purchased at Scrap-n-Crop.com HERE}

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Instructions:

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The first blending technique is very similar to those used for Copic Markers.  Simply stamp your image with Archival Ink onto watercolour paper, and then colour it with the lightest colour.  Add the darker colour, and then go over the part of the image where the two colours meet, using the lighter colour again.  I found that this technique gave very intense colours, and the shading was not particularly subtle.  I think if you used it with two colours that were similar (eg wild honey and spiced marmalade), it would work better, but perhaps not so much for different colours, such as dusty concorde and broken china.

I much preferred the second method.  It gave me a lighter image with very subtle blending.  This was achieved by  stamping as above, and then applying some of the darker colour ink to the craft sheet.  (NB you could use a palette, an old CD or plastic packaging instead – anything that is non-porous).  Take the lighter marker, and use it to pick up the darker colour, then colour in, starting with the area that you want to be darkest.  Don’t worry, it won’t ruin your markers!  The darker ink goes onto the paper first, and is gradually replaced with the lighter ink , until the marker goes back to its original colour.

For my stamped image (pictured), I coloured the middle of the flower with spiced marmalade and wild honey, working from the outside into the middle.  For the petals, I used broken china on the craft sheet, and the tumbled glass marker.  

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The Picket Fence marker

Although part of the same range, this distress marker is quite different from the rest.  The main difference is that it uses pigment ink, not dye ink.  This means the ink in it is opaque (dye inks are transparent, pigment ones opaque), and so you can use it on dark paper and the ink will still show.  It is also different in that the fine tip is not the same as the others, it looks and feels more like a felt tip.  This is to do with the properties of the ink – it won’t flow through the hard plastic tip like the die inks do.

So – it’s a white pen.  But there are some things it can do that other white pens can’t.  Here is a brief guide to what you can do with it.

The most obvious thing to do is to write or doodle with it on a dark background.  At first you can’t see the ink very well, but as it dries it becomes brighter and brighter, until it shows up really well.

You can stamp onto a dark background with it.  You have to be fast, mind you – add the ink to your stamp and stamp quickly, before it dries.  The image will show up well, and if there are any missing areas, you can always fill them in with the pen.  This is a quick and easy way to get a white stamped image on a dark background without having to use embossing powder and a heat gun. 

Use it to lighten your other ink colours.  If you have used one of your other distress markers but think it is a bit too dark for your project, you can go over the top of it with your white distress marker.  It will give a paler, cloudy effect.

If you want a light colour on a dark background, you can use the white marker first, and then colour over it with another marker.  The result is an opaque, pastel version of the colour.  You do need to practice a bit with this technique, but to my knowledge it is the only way to get a pastel colour on a dark background without using a specialist ink like VersaMagic, or using embossing powder and a heat gun.

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Handy tip

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If you stamp with your Picket Fence marker you will have to clean your stamp before using it again, as the white ink dries onto it very quickly, leaving a powder-like substance.

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